Home prices plummet, sales show improvement

Bargain-hunters boosted sales activity south of Boston in January as single-family prices fell to their lowest levels since 2002.

Steve Adams

Bargain-hunters boosted sales activity south of Boston in January as single-family prices fell to their lowest levels since 2002.

Single-family home sales rose 22 percent from the previous year in Plymouth County, according to a report released Tuesday by The Warren Group of South Boston. That followed a 20 percent surge in Plymouth County single-family sales in December.

The only other region with positive single-family activity in January was Suffolk County, where sales rose 6 percent.

Locally, single-family sales were busiest in Quincy, Milton and Hingham, all of which posted double-digit increases in transactions over January 2008.

“Sellers have come down, and the prices are more in line with what people want to see,” said Ed Largey, a sales agent at Kelley & Rege Properties in Milton. “They’re more in a position to make an offer.”

The condo market in Norfolk County also showed new signs of life in January, with sales rising 12 percent.

The picture was less encouraging statewide as single-family home sales fell 10 percent and prices dropped 20 percent from the previous year to $259,250.

The 1,908 single-family transactions in January were the fewest recorded for the month since The Warren Group began tracking such data 22 years ago.

The median single-family home price is at the lowest level since March 2002, according to The Warren Group.